


Won't Rest Till the Sun Comes Home

by LemonNinjaa



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-09
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:47:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7990780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonNinjaa/pseuds/LemonNinjaa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A list of things that take up time: napping, watching Netflix, being terrified out of your mind, and phone calls with Phil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Won't Rest Till the Sun Comes Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [chunchun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chunchun/gifts).



            Dan closed the door behind him and let his sweatpants drop to the floor before taking off his shirt. The black fabric seemed out of place in Phil’s colourful room, but at the same time it was a familiar sight. It was 5pm, not really a proper time to sleep, but Dan didn’t care; there was nothing else to do when Phil wasn’t around, anyway. _It’s not like I have a 9 to 5 job, so I can sleep whenever I want_ , he justified to himself. He nestled into the pillow, appreciating the softness of the bright blue and green duvet against his cheek.

\--

            Dan’s eyes flew open as he suddenly became very aware of the fact that someone or something was in the room, staring at him. Somehow he just knew that whatever it was wasn’t very friendly, and their heavy gaze was making his skin crawl. The room was cast in a strange glow that didn’t seem to be from the setting sun, and he tried to turn around to look at the presence behind him, but he couldn’t move. He tried to flail and scream for help but he felt the noises die in his throat before he could ever utter a word. There was no way it was Phil because he wasn’t supposed to be home for four more days, and he would have said or done something by now. It was horrifyingly silent other than the sound of Dan’s heart thumping loudly in his chest, and he desperately tried to move anything, to kick out with his leg or push himself over with his arm, but nothing happened. He could faintly feel the fingers of his left hand twitching, and that was all the voluntary movement he had. He couldn’t even close his eyes now that he had opened them, and all he could think about was that he was about to get murdered. He was terrified first by the intruder, second by his complete helplessness, and third by the thought that Phil would have to be the one to find his rotting body in four days’ time.

            Dan kept straining his arm, trying to will it to move, and he could hear himself gasping for breath. He was sure that it was very obvious that he was awake, which made him freak out even more. Dan was certain that at any second, he would feel a hand grabbing him, flipping him over --

            Dan startled violently, his eyes snapping open to see the same part of Phil’s room that he had gone to sleep facing. He quickly pushed himself up and turned, only to see nothing there. Apparently he had been dreaming, but he could’ve sworn that he had been awake this whole time, considering that he had dreamt that he had woken up. Evidently, nothing was actually in their flat, but somehow Dan’s heart refused to get the message. He was terrified at the feeling of a safe space being violated, somewhere that he’d always been comfortable in no matter what. Dan was used to having Phil’s room either to himself or sharing it with Phil; no one had ever been there at night but them. He couldn't get over the fact that his senses had deceived him so deeply, that he really, truly perceived something in the room with him. He had dreamt that he was lying on his side, the same way he had gone to sleep and the same way he had woken up, and it had all felt so real. The intense helplessness that he had experienced rocked him to his very core; being at something else’s mercy like that was deeply disturbing.

            He pulled the duvet over his head, feeling stupid about the fact that being fully covered by it made him feel safer. He stuck his arm out, hand shaking, blindly groping around for his phone on the table before bringing it back to safety under the covers. It took him a few tries to successfully call Phil.

            “Hey Dan, what’s up? You miss me already?”

            Dan felt himself relax a little at the familiar, cheerful voice, still very aware of his heart beating overtime.

            “I had a nightmare,” was all he could say, his voice halting and shaky.

            “Hey, are you okay? What happened?” Phil’s voice immediately softened, and Dan’s haywire heart warmed as it continued to trip over itself.

            Dan recounted his nightmare, still huddled under Phil’s comforter.

            “It felt so real, like I honestly thought I was going to be murdered and you’d have to find my four-day-old corpse just melted all over your bed,” he said quietly.

            Phil made a sympathetic sound before suggesting, “Maybe put on an episode of _Free!_ or something?”

            Dan shook his head, even though he knew Phil wouldn’t see it. “I left my laptop in the lounge,” he said, feeling his scalp prickle at the thought of leaving the bed, of leaving safety. He tucked the comforter a little tighter around him, trying not to think about how it felt like eyes were trying to pierce through the thick material, silently judging.

            “Play music on your phone, then?”

            “Maybe...”

            There was a long pause before Phil launched into a story, “So, yesterday I went to the shop for Mum, and as soon as I stepped out of the shop, this man just ran up to me and stomped on my shoes before running away! He didn’t even say anything, and he stomped really hard… My nice white shoes, too…”

            Phil’s smooth, steady voice recounting his misadventures soothed Dan’s heartbeat and gave him something to focus on besides the fear that he wasn’t alone in the flat.

\--

            “Honestly, these things only ever happen to you.” Dan was now reclining more comfortably, still fully covered by the duvet, but not nearly as tense as he was when he first called Phil.

            “You know me; I attract strange people.” Phil laughed a little.

            Dan heard Phil’s mum in the background speaking indistinctly.

            “Hey, I have to go, but are you okay now?” Phil asked, concern clear in his voice.

            “Yeah, I might suck it up and go get my laptop so I have something to do in here,” Dan assured him.

            “I can wait on the phone while you go get it,” Phil offered, and Dan felt his heart warm.

            “Okay, if I scream then hang up and call 999,” Dan said, only half-joking. His heart sped up a little even though he knew he’d be fine.

            “If you die I’ll make sure to delete your browser history.”

            “I’m glad you know what’s important.” Dan flung the covers off, his eyes wide open as he peered around the room.

            Shivering a little from the change in temperature, he made his way to the door but paused with his hand on the knob. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself to run through the flat once he opened the door to get to his laptop.

            “You can just turn on the light, you know,” Phil said. Maybe he heard Dan’s slightly heavier breathing, or he just knew Dan that well.

            “Psh, lights are for losers,” Dan said, even as he turned on the light.

            Dan could hear Phil faintly giggle as he speed-walked to the lounge, picked up his laptop, and darted back the way he came, refusing to look up at anything in case something was in the corner. _Seeing is believing_ , he thought sardonically.

            Shutting the door with a firm click, Dan sighed in relief. He still scanned the room, but he felt much calmer than when he had first called Phil.

            “You made it back? Or is this some weird shadow demon Dan huffing and puffing into the phone?” Phil teased.

            “Fuck you too,” Dan grumbled good-naturedly, pulling the covers up to his ears. “Go do whatever your mum was calling you for, you spoon.”

            “Rude,” Phil huffed. “I’ll be back soon, okay, so don’t barricade the flat because you’ll probably be sleeping when I’m back and then I won’t be able to get in… Not that a barricade would stop a shadow demon anyway.”

            “Yeah, thanks for really slamming it home there… Maybe I’ll barricade it just so you can’t get in, and laugh on the other side of the door.”

            “See if I give you your souvenir…” Phil mumbled, before chirping, “See you soon, bye Dan!”

            “Bye, Phil,” Dan smiled as he spoke.

            At the sound of the click, Dan tossed his phone onto the floor next to the bed before opening his laptop and going to Netflix. He started playing an episode of whatever anime he saw first, not intending to actually watch, and then rested the laptop on top of the nightstand, turning the brightness all the way down and tilting the screen so it was mostly closed.  

            Part of him was afraid to sleep, but he considered how ridiculous it would be for a shadow demon ( _Thanks for the catchy name, Phil_ , he thought) to creep in again to watch some British guy while an anime was playing in the background. _That’s how to survive in a horror movie; just play Lucky Star or something constantly so the mood is always ruined._

\--

            Dan woke up with a start to the sound of something falling over somewhere in the flat. _Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god --_ “Sorry! Sorry! That was me, sorry!”

            “Phil?” Dan yelled, voice scratchy from sleep.

            “I’m sorry! I tripped and knocked my suitcase back down the stairs!” Phil’s voice got closer and closer, and then he opened the door.

            “What the hell are you doing here? Did I just sleep for four days?” Disoriented, Dan groped around on the floor for his phone.

            “Nope! I came back early!”

            Dan stopped patting the ground for his phone and stared blankly at Phil.

            “You seemed pretty scared and my mum told me you probably had sleep paralysis which is why it felt so real, because she’s had it before, so she basically kind of just pushed me out the door once she found out I was considering coming home early. She told me that she’s scared to sleep for a while after she has it so I was worried you would stay up for the rest of the time until I came home, and I really didn’t want to find your corpse in my bed, so…”

            Dan stared a little more at Phil before covering his face with his hands and rolling a little in bed.

            “Phil Lester,” he said, voice muffled, “You are just too considerate for your own good.”

            Dan looked through his fingers to see Phil’s signature grin with his tongue peeking out, and he watched him walk closer to the bed.

            “I mostly just didn’t want to have to cover the security deposit all on my own because you died in here,” Phil joked, poking Dan’s shoulder. “I quite like this duvet too, without all of your insides decaying all over it.”

            “Ugh, I thought I was gonna die, don’t make fun of me,” Dan mumbled, shoving at Phil’s thigh. “Now shut up, I want to sleep.”

            “Okay, okay.” Phil made to get up, but was stopped by Dan’s hand on his thigh again.

            “Can you just like, sit down for five seconds, what the hell, you just got back.” Feeling Phil’s weight settle on the bed again, he tugged at Phil’s shirt to indicate that he should lay down too.

            “Sure, I’ll protect you from the shadow demon thing, just wait a second,” Phil said, moving to shed some of his clothes.

            He slid under the covers with Dan, who edged closer.

            “I hope the shadow demon comes for _you_ this time.”

            “That’s mean, I came back for you!”

            “Shhh, I’m sleeping.”

            “Nerd.”

            “I’m _sleeping_.”

            Eyes closed, Dan smirked at the feeling of Phil flicking his side, before shifting a little to burrow his head deeper into his pillow.

            “Night,” he murmured.

            “Night.”

**Author's Note:**

> Dan's experience with sleep paralysis is heavily based on my own experiences! Fun stuff lol. I purposely picked late afternoon for Dan to go to sleep because the only time I ever have sleep paralysis when I'm napping during the day.
> 
> Also that story that Phil told Dan, that's based on my real experience too. :( Years ago, I was downtown and walking with a friend, and some guy just appeared out of nowhere to stomp heavily on my feet (I was wearing classic black and white high top Converse lmao) and scream unintelligibly into my face before running away again...


End file.
